Awakening: The Abdullah Badawi Years in Malaysia

Editors: Bridget Welsh & James U.H. Chin
New Pb620 pp.
Subjects: Malaysia, Politics
Condition: Good
Publisher: SIRD
Published: 2013Tun Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi served as Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2003 to 2009. Better known as Pak Lah, he came in office with a huge mandate. In the 2004 General Elections, the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) won its best performance since 1969. Five years later in the 2008 GE, the BN won only 140 of 222 seats, a net loss of 58 seats. More importantly it meant the BN lost its customary two-thirds majority in parliament.

More than thirty authors, Malaysians and non-Malaysians, give an assessment of the one-term Abdullah administration. The central theme of the book is the question: how did Tun Abdullah change the Malaysian political landscape? This volume offers a comprehensive glimpse of the Abdullah administration from both inside and outside the administration.

“He assumed office as PM on a vast sea of optimism and he could have accomplished more. Indeed his motto when assuming office was “work with him, not for him”. He should have taken the opportunities of making sweeping changes in the cabinet, the civil service, judiciary and other organs of power and governance."